1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to object-oriented systems analysis. More particularly, the present invention relates to an object-oriented information model based on an underlying physical system, including associated infrastructure and personnel, for example the equipment which makes up an electric utility power system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Electrical power systems are large complex physical systems with many types of interconnected electrical equipment. Such systems are often modeled for various reasons within the departments that make up the utility which is responsible for operating the power system.
Each department within the utility typically maintains its own specific database, usually employing a proprietary application program. This proprietary application program is tightly coupled to a particular operating system, computer manufacturer, data structure, etc. That is, the proprietary application programs employed in the various departments of the utility are vendor specific and cannot be interfaced with or exchange data with the application programs used in other departments (and often with those within the same department). Thus, in a utility, information is not freely exchangeable between the various departments of the utility, such as planning, engineering, operations etc.
The present state of the art is such that the various proprietary application programs are, at best, difficult for a department to use and maintain. That is, the user interface in most such programs requires the manipulation of strings of raw data, or the entry of data into crude forms. Thus, highly skilled personnel are required for the performance of a tedious and repetitive task.
Additionally, known database structures as are employed in such application programs merely provide virtual models of a power system based on abstract mathematical descriptions of system equipment. Such models are generic approximations of actual installed equipment within the power system. Thus, there is an inherent error in the model. When the error that is present in several separate databases within the utility is considered, it can be seen that the cumulative error renders data collection and reporting within a utility a Tower of Babel.
Accordingly, the utility is faced with occupying its personnel with the many problems attendant with such application programs: redundant entry of the same data in different formats, inconsistent and inaccurate local departmental models, stale data as information within one department does not track other departments, slow response on a system level to equipment changes, etc., all in the context of many complex application programs that are difficult and expensive to use and maintain.